Originally Posted by gloopy

True, it should and it does. Seniority already equates to higher pay, choice of days off, choice of vacation, more vacation, more sick time, higher non rev priority and many other factors. What many don't support though is the return to the bloated days of the past where senior reserves in every category flew only a few times a year, triple dip touch drop vacation scams, triple dip buddy bidding with LCA's (which we now have back? srsly?) and other really expensive ways to add pilots and costs for the company for comparitively smaller benefits for the entire pilot group.

The RAW buckets are just too high. Other than that, the system wouldn't be that bad. Either way though, once staffing catches up (either by growth...HA!...or retirements) even 80 RAW buckets will mean all reserves will fly equally again. It will just mean some fly more the first two weeks while others fly the last two weeks.

I'd rather see smaller buckets with the ability for reserve pilots to pick, in seniority order of course, trips from open time that they would then "own" just like a lineholder would. Add that to some of the improvements we've seen as well as the ones to be phased in next month and it wouldn't be a bad system over all. Of course it still pays about 40% less per hour than SWA's narrowbodies, makes 8 hours a month less credit and works about 30 more RSV days a year than SWA.